The Seahawks beat the Redskins at their own game yesterday, running college-style plays on offense with a unique rookie quarterback and winning 24-14.
As much attention as the Redskins got for using the pistol and adapting their offense to RGIII's skillset this season, the Seahawks have done almost the exact same thing in the last two months.
And they've become the hottest team in the NFL because of it.
Seattle ran for a franchise playoff record 224 yards on 37 attempts yesterday. A full 30% of those attempts were option plays, according to ESPN Stats & Info. Those option plays averaged 10.0 yards per carry, compared to 4.4 yards per carry on non-option plays. They were basically unstoppable.
Seattle also scored this game-winning TD on an option play:
This isn't the traditional, 1970s-style option. This is a "read option," where the QB reads the defense out of the shotgun and chooses to either hand it off or take it himself.
In a fantastic SB Nation article on the college-ization of pro offenses, Chris Brown explained why teams like Seattle have tweaked things:
"The common motivation for change in the NFL is not the genius of the coaches, or a desire to be revolutionary, or any kind of special tactical wisdom unforeseen by anyone before. In the NFL, change is not driven so much by the ideas themselves as by the skills of its players."
This is exactly what Seattle has done.
Since Week 13, Seattle has run more option than any team in the NFL, according to ESPN Stats & Info. In that same span they've gone 6-0 and transformed themselves into an offensive juggernaut. Here's the team breakdown:
- Before Week 13: 19.9 points per game, 138.2 rushing yards per game
- Week 13 on: 36.6 points per game, 213.8 rushing yards per game
Wilson's rushing stats show a similar bump:
- Before Week 13: 5.2 rushes per game, 20.6 yards per game
- Week 13 on: 7.5 rushes per game, 54.8 yards per game
They're the hottest team in the NFL because they're tailoring their offense to what their players do best, regardless of whether they have to run "college" players or not.
